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Lean Skipper Cap. Système. Maîtrise.
Rapid diagnostic
Lean Skipper crest: compass and laurel wreath in brushed gold, with light passing through.

Full order book, late deliveries

Selling more than you can produce?

I'm Tiago Mance, founder of Lean Skipper and an interim manager. I increase production capacity for manufacturing SMEs in Gironde and around Bordeaux without investing in equipment: I organize the company and the teams first. A 90-day project with hands-on coaching starts at €2,450 excluding VAT. The first step is a free 45-minute rapid diagnostic.

  1. Heading.Thirty days to measure your real capacity.
  2. System.We write the standards and pace the flow.
  3. Mastery.Your front-line leaders run the routine on their own.
Request my rapid diagnostic The 90 days in three phases
The problem

When the shop floor can't keep up with sales

Orders are coming in, and it's production that's holding things up.

  • Your order book is full, and yet you're losing money.
  • Delivery dates keep slipping. You give the customer a new date you know you can't meet.
  • Overtime has become the norm, and it eats into the margin your order book promised.
  • You hesitate to sign a new order, because you don't know whether the shop floor will keep up.
  • You spend your days dealing with emergencies on the shop floor instead of running the company.

Sales have done their part. What remains is to find where the shop floor is losing capacity.

The cause

Do you need a new machine to produce more?

Not as a first step. A plant never produces more than its bottleneck. The bottleneck isn't always a machine. Sometimes it sits in order release or in purchasing, sometimes with the only person who knows how to do the job.

A machine speeds up the flow you already have. If the workstation is waiting for its parts or its instructions, the new machine will wait along with it.

  1. 01

    The workstation is waiting.

    The operator is waiting for a part, a drawing or an instruction. Time is lost hunting for parts, walking back and forth and redoing work.

  2. 02

    The schedule gets redone every morning.

    It depends on who's on shift. Nobody can say how many hours separate an order from its delivery.

  3. 03

    The know-how lives in two people's heads.

    Nothing is written down. When one of those two people is away, output drops.

  4. 04

    Nobody runs the shop floor.

    The team leader spends the day troubleshooting instead of managing.

None of these four causes can be fixed with a purchase order. They get fixed on the shop floor, with your teams.

Shop-floor management can be learned. But there's very little training or coaching for it in manufacturing, and almost none in the marine industry, where I come from. The methods are well known. What's missing is someone to come in and set them up with your front-line leaders.

The answer

Organize before you invest

You learn to drive first, then you buy the Ferrari, not the other way around. I organize the company and the teams before any investment in equipment, to recover capacity you're already paying for. If you still need the machine after that, you'll buy it for the right reasons, and it won't sit idle.

The 90-day method

"Invest before you get organized and you're just automating waste." Tiago Mance, founder of Lean Skipper
The method

How do the 90 days work?

Lean Skipper's approach to industrializing SMEs comes in three phases. I take charge of production with your teams until the system runs without me, and without you having to step in.

Day 0 to Day 30, the first month

Heading

Assessment and direction

Before speeding anything up, I measure the shop floor's real capacity and put figures on the delivery targets.

  • Assessment: the bottleneck, the old assumptions, the cash tied up in work in progress.
  • Targets: delivery lead times, set in days with management.
  • Roadmap: a costed plan, with no investment in equipment, that we commit to in front of the management committee.

Goal: know what the shop floor can produce before deciding to invest.

Day 30 to Day 60, the second month

System

Know-how written down, flow on takt

I set up OS Lean Skipper, my operating system for running production. It covers people, processes and the technology that's actually useful.

  • Every task described in ten dimensions: tools, safety, duration, skills, standard, bill of materials, quality, work instruction, lead time, pacing.
  • Every workstation standardized, with a skills matrix showing who can do what.
  • The flow: kitting at the workstation (parts prepared and delivered to the station), takt, remaining work visible with no double entry.

Goal: no more waiting for parts or instructions.

Day 60 to Day 90, the third month

Mastery

Execution and handover

In this phase, I work on the shop floor with your teams until your front-line leaders run the routine on their own.

  • Action on the shop floor, station by station.
  • Routines: visual management and a daily walk of the shop floor.
  • Coaching for team leaders and shop-floor supervisors.

Goal: keep output steady when someone leaves.

What changes: by Day 90, you know what your shop floor really produces, and your front-line leaders keep up the pace without you. You keep your standards, your remaining-work list and your routines. They run without me.

Request my rapid diagnostic

Who comes to your shop floor

The person who comes to you also runs a plant

Tiago Mance, smiling, in a dark jacket and light shirt.

Lean Skipper is the brand under which Tiago Mance works as an interim manager. In Gironde and around Bordeaux, he increases production capacity for manufacturing SMEs without CAPEX, meaning no machines, buildings or heavy software are bought during the engagement: he organizes the company and the teams first, over 90 days. He works alone, in person on the shop floor, and hands the office work to his AI agents. He teaches industrial and logistics management at IAE Bordeaux. He also runs Espadarte, in Brazil, which makes the engines of the Hybdor Marine Power Train brand: in his own plant, he applies what he sets up for his clients. Lean Skipper's head office is in Lormont, Gironde.

Who it's for
Manufacturing SMEs in any sector whose sales outstrip what their shop floor can produce
Where
Gironde and the Bordeaux area, within a day's round trip
Duration
90 days, in three phases: Heading, System, Mastery
Pricing
A 90-day project with hands-on coaching starts at €2,450 excluding VAT. Every engagement is priced on site.
First step
A 45-minute rapid diagnostic, free of charge
Who does the work
Tiago Mance himself, in person on the shop floor
The proof

What people I've worked with say

Three public recommendations from production and HR managers, then a boatbuilding client. The English originals are quoted word for word.

"Tiago has very strong Lean Manufacturing skills and is particularly good at passing on and explaining Lean concepts and tools. He shows real teaching skill and pragmatism, which makes it easier for teams to understand them and make them their own. His ability to connect Lean principles to the concrete problems of the shop floor is a real asset."
Nicolas De OliveiraProduction Manager, Republic Technologies France
"Tiago is a very competent person, it was a pleasure to work with him on the same project. His lean culture and analytical mind are fascinating. Beyond his hard skills, he is an inspiring leader with very good interpersonal skills who knows how to lead a project team to achieve ambitious objectives."
Houssam ElamriProduction Director, Smurfit Westrock; reported to Tiago
"I was lucky enough to work with Tiago on Lean Management training when I was HR Director at Righini. Beyond his expertise, I particularly appreciated his curiosity, his sharp understanding of business issues and his ability to open up new perspectives."
Lauriane GonzalezHR Director at Righini at the time

Recommendations published on Tiago Mance's LinkedIn profile. The two written in French are my translation.

HanseYachts AG Greifswald, Germany · Łozienica, Poland
"Thanks to your input, we'll have now a few 'To-Dos', looking forward to seeing them turn into reality. Our Managing Director liked your results and suggestions." Alexander Busher, Lean Manager, HanseYachts AG

Industrial maturity assessment and kaizen event at both sites, with Daniel Kuhn, Head of Industrial Engineering. HanseYachts describes itself as the world's second-largest sailboat builder.

I run my own plantFounder and CEO of Espadarte, which makes Hybdor Marine Power Train engines in Brazil
Twenty years in the marine industryIncluding opening a plant in Brazil and an M&A deal in Portugal
Ten countriesFrance, Brazil, Poland, Germany, Italy, Portugal, United States, Ireland, Estonia, Finland
TrainerIndustrial and logistics management at IAE Bordeaux; Yellow Belt and Green Belt, INEMA Albi
AuthorLe Protocole du Leader (in French)
Who it's for

I don't work with everyone

If this isn't for you, it's better to know right now.

It's for you if

  • You run a manufacturing SME in Gironde or around Bordeaux, whatever your sector.
  • Your sales outstrip what your shop floor can produce.
  • You're thinking of buying a machine or hiring to keep up, without being sure it's the right answer.
  • One or two key people carry the know-how, and you know it.
  • You want a return you can see in under a year rather than a study.

It's not for you if

  • Your order book is empty: you have a sales problem before you have a production problem.
  • You want a report to present, with no intention of changing the shop floor.
  • You already have an in-house operational excellence department.
  • Your production site is too far away for a round trip in a day.
  • You want someone to stay on indefinitely.
What it costs

How much does an engagement cost?

Every engagement is priced on site, and the proposal commits to a return on investment. As a guide:

A 90-day project with hands-on coaching starts at €2,450 excluding VAT.

The final amount depends on the size of the shop floor and the number of areas. The 45-minute rapid diagnostic is free.

What people ask me

The questions I get asked before we start

How can you increase production capacity without investing?

By first recovering the capacity you're already paying for and losing to walking back and forth, hunting for parts and rework. I measure your real capacity, find the bottleneck, then organize the flow and the teams around it. Invest before you get organized and you're just automating waste. If you still need the machine after that, you'll buy it for the right reasons.

How do the 90 days work?

In three phases. Heading, from Day 0 to Day 30: I measure your real capacity, find the bottleneck and cost out a roadmap with no investment in equipment. System, from Day 30 to Day 60: I write the standards with your teams, set up kitting at the workstation and make the remaining work visible. Mastery, from Day 60 to Day 90: I coach your front-line leaders until they run the routine on their own.

How much does a 90-day engagement cost?

A 90-day project with hands-on coaching starts at €2,450 excluding VAT. The final amount depends on the size of the shop floor and the number of areas: I price it on site, and the proposal commits to a return on investment. The 45-minute rapid diagnostic is free.

Do you work on site, in Gironde and around Bordeaux?

Yes. Lean Skipper's head office is in Lormont, Gironde. This offer is limited to Gironde and the Bordeaux area, where I can make the round trip in a day, because the work happens on your shop floor, station by station, with your teams.

You come from the marine industry. Does your method work in my industry?

Yes, because it deals with organization: the flow, the workstations, the standards and the front-line leaders. It doesn't depend on what you make. I spent twenty years in the marine industry, and I regularly work in other industrial sectors: among other things, I have trained teams in metalworking and consumer goods. The recommendations from Nicolas De Oliveira and Lauriane Gonzalez, quoted on this page, speak to that.

Are you a production management consultant?

No, I'm an interim manager. I diagnose the problem as a consultant would, then I take charge of production for 90 days and I'm accountable for the result. I work on the shop floor until production runs without me. And I run my own plant, Espadarte, in Brazil, where I apply what I put in place with you.

We've tried to get organized before, and it didn't stick. Why would this time be different?

Because a standard only sticks if someone keeps it alive every day. That's what the Mastery phase, from Day 60 to Day 90, is for: I coach your team leaders and shop-floor supervisors on the floor until they run the routine without me. By Day 90, you keep your standards, your remaining-work list and your routines.

What happens during the rapid diagnostic?

In 45 minutes, you tell me where things get stuck: the delays, the workload, the stations left waiting, the planned investment. I tell you frankly whether I can help. You leave with a first action to take, whether or not we work together. The diagnostic is free. You book the call online, right after the form.

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The rapid diagnostic

If you're selling more than you can produce, let's talk for 45 minutes

The rapid diagnostic is free. You tell me where things get stuck, I tell you frankly whether I can help, and you leave with a first action to take.

  1. 01You leave your details and, if you like, your main sticking point.
  2. 02The link to book your 45 minutes appears straight away: you pick the slot.
  3. 03We talk about your shop floor, and you leave with a first action.

Three required fields and one checkbox. The rest is optional.

I'll reply to this address.

If you'd rather I called you.

Your answer helps me prepare for the 45 minutes.

The diagnostic is free. The link to book your 45 minutes appears as soon as you send the form.